Maybe. Maybe not. I read an interview with him about Oysterhead. He talked about meeting Trey Anastasio and seeing his first Phish show. He was completely amazed that there was a community within the rock genre that held musicianship and improvisation in such high regard. I'm pretty sure he was completely unaware of what bands like Phish and Grateful Dead were doing. Since then he's always been emmersed in that scene.